31 March 2012

When I was up country (as we say in these
parts) I had lunch at Carluccio’s; the menu was tempting, the food very good
and I was really enticed by the deli selling all sorts of fascinating
stuff. I didn’t have long to linger,
however, as I was with my agent (ahem!) and about to meet up with publishers to
discuss the possibility of publishing the book I am writing.

ASIDE ~ if you would like to think positive
thoughts for me in this regard please feel free; there’s still time as I haven’t
heard anything yet!

Coincidentally, on my return to Cornwall,
among the various delights waiting me was another lovely book from Quadrille (I thank you); “Two Greedy
Italians eat Italy” by Gennaro Contaldo and no other than Antonio Carluccio ~
the very chap who developed the above mentioned Carluccio’s caffè business
together with his ex-wife Priscilla Carluccio.

The book is divided into three main
sections dealing with food from the mountains (the Alps including the glacial
lakes), from the coast and from the rivers and plains giving a little about the
geography of each area as it relates to food and lifestyle.

“Comfort Food from the
Mountains” deals with warming, rib sticking food. The first recipe is for Beef & Wine Soup which is
good beef broth enhanced with wine, cream and Parmesan and served over buttery fried bread. This is just the sort of
food for someone keen on using up leftovers, as I am, and so is the second
recipe in the book for Bread Dumplings in Beef Broth. As it happens I am making beef stock as I type (see recipe at the end of this post) so will try
these recipes soon. This section also
includes several game recipes, polenta, pizza, chestnuts, potatoes, sausages and
cabbage, that sort of thing. Towards the
end Carluccio gives a recipe for Mascapone All’ Amaretto. As luck would have it there was were a few
Amaretti in the cupboard and a little mascarpone in the fridge so it seemed
only right that I try it for breakfast. Sadly
I had no Amaretto so I had to compromise with a little brandy but it was still
delicious!

“Fresh Flavours from the Coast”, of course,
gives many fish and seafood dishes plus some desserts and ices and a
particularly enticing recipe for Focaccia di Formaggio.

The third section “The Larder of the River
and Plains” concerned the the agricultural area where not only fruit and
vegetables are grown but also rice for risotto and wheat for pasta.

Each of the guys contributes recipes, which
are clear and straightforward, and also the occasional note on
ingredients. I have never been to Italy
(what a slacker!) but this strikes me as real or realistic Italian food, not
restaurant dishes beyond the call of day to day cooking and I am tempted by a great
deal of it. I am also tempted to visit Italy.

If the photos are to be believed Carluccio
and Contaldo seem to have had fun compiling this volume and they they remind me a
little of “Last of the Summer Wine” ~ two
old friends still playing with life and enjoying themselves together.

ANOTHER ASIDE ~ does anyone have any idea
what’s in Compo’s matchbox?

“Two Greedy Italians eat Italy” by Antonio
Carluccio and Gennaro Contaldo is a follow up to their first book “Two Greedy
Italians” which accompanied the BBC series of the same name (get the DVD here). It is to be published by Quadrille Publishing Ltd on the 12th April this
year and can be ordered from Amazon here.

Boneless Beef Stock

If you are prone, as I am, to being left with
lots of beef scraps after trimming steaks or preparing meat for casseroles then
store every little bit in the freezer till there are enough to make an effort
worthwhile – 500g at least.

~ Defrost all the
beef scraps if they are frozen – fat and sinew and gore are all fine for this.

~ Cut a whole onion
into quarters, no need to peel it!

~ Heat a couple of tablespoons
of oil in a large pan and add the onion and all the beef bits.

~ Cook uncovered
over high heat, stirring occasionally, till the beef is well browned and the
onions may even have started to char.

~ Pour over enough
water to cover generously, bring to a boil, cover, turn down the heat and
simmer for ages till you have a rich brown stock.

~ Strain the stock into
a clean pan discarding the solids.

~ Add a seriously
good glug of red wine (half a bottle even!) and boil till the liquid had
reduced by 75% or so.

~ Cool, pour into an
airtight container, cover and chill.

This keeps very well in the fridge; as it cools the fat
rises to the top and solidifies thus sealing the dish. It can also be frozen and I suggest freezing
in ice cubes as it is strong and you may only need a little at a time. This not at all classic stock has served me very
well; I like to add a spoonful to sautéed mushrooms, to steak pans when
deglazing, to creamy sauces, and to anything that could do with a beefy boost,
such as my ever popular Peppered Steak Salad.

… interesting and delicious lunches and wonderful
breads and cheeses, olives, charcuterie, chutneys, preserves, homemade cheese straws
and other baked goods and so on and so forth from their shop next door; The
Cake Hole.

Today I had a wander about the island. The weather has been fantabulous and I had a
great time …

Even the funerals look tempting!

BUT the day was spoiled for me by an
irritation so here is a bit of a rant.

Rant!

Many, many years ago when the world was
young (around the time of the Jurassic) my sister and I and our then-husbands owned a couple of
restaurants where we had some original ideas and put them to good use. Not amazing ideas, just a few “signature
dishes” as they are now called and some different ways to promote our businesses. A dish that springs to mind is “Cornish Rarebit”
which was basically crab or crab pâté on toast topped with cheese and
grilled. No big deal, I know, but we had
never seen it before but have been seeing it ever since in many restaurants in
that part of Cornwall. It’s years ago, however,
that we had that idea and is no problem at all now although a bit of a pisser
at the time.

The second thing that I
frequently see ripped off is our Pauper’s Supper. I well remember the day we invented this
because my then-husband woke me up in the middle of the night to say he had a
good idea – why not do a cheap 3 course meal on Wednesday evenings to get the
punters in? So we did, called it
Pauper’s Supper and on Wednesdays we were packed to capacity ~ we did 3
sittings plus people sometimes ate in their cars. Now 25 years later in the general location of
our restaurants Pauper’s Suppers are still offered on Wednesdays in several
eating establishments. It’s as if
Wednesday and the word “Pauper’s” are the only possibilities.

Why oh why can’t people use their own brains? I mention all this because …

The ­Art
Café is a bright and sunny place with pine tables and chairs and outside
seating serving lovely freshly made interesting breakfasts and lunches,
homemade cakes and excellent coffee. It
is called The Art Café because they also display and sell art on the premises

Very nearby, within sandwich lobbing
distance, is a pub called the White Hart which most people will have to pass on
their way to the Art Café.

They have
recently opened a café on the premises called The Hart Café presumably in the hope that people will mistake their
café for their intended destination and pop in.
For all I know the Hart Café may sell wonderful food and drinks but however
good it is they are obviously inept at using their imagination and I think this
does them no favours. Several people in
the area have already, in the few days I have been here, told me how irritated they
are by this apparent imitation of an established and popular business.

Their drawing of a cup of coffee is not
dissimilar to the Art Café logo (see photo at the start of this rant for comparison), even the steam squiggles are the same! This is surely not a coincidence, in fact the words
“blatant plagiarism” spring to mind.

I don’t think the Art Café are very
discombobulated by this at all, maybe they are even a bit flattered, but I am a
grumpy middle aged lady and it’s really got up my goat!

Anyhoo, sorry about that - get it off my
chest and all that! I shall be going home in a couple of days and back to
writing about leftovers as soon as I have some!

14 March 2012

~ Menu ~

Tagliatelle
in Asparagus “Pesto” with Frazzled Prosciutto

Small
glass of Red

A
Handful of Sugared Pecans

Coffee

Looking in the fridge today, in a hungry
mood, I found 6 asparagus spears, 2 slices of prosciutto and the last bit of a
piece of Gran Padano. I very nearly scrambled some eggs with the asparagus and
ham but inspiration struck, as if often the way. So this is what I did.

Why not pin for later?

~ Snapped the tips from the asparagus, set them aside and cooked the rest of the
stalks in salted water till completely tender.

~ Scooped the cooked asparagus out of the boiling water and replaced them with 3 coils of
tagliatelle.

~ While the pasta was cooking I did 2 things
(yes, you’ve guessed, I’m a woman!) … firstly I puréed the cooked asparagus
with a knob of butter and a handful of grated Gran Padano, and, secondly, I cut
the prosciutto into strips and frazzled it in tablespoon of olive oil together
with the asparagus tips.

~ I
lifted the ham and asparagus out of the frying pan with a slotted spoon and
added the residual oil to the asparagus purée.

11 March 2012

One of our supermarket bargains this week
was a few pieces of oxtail which I braised in red wine and ate with a dish of
Polenta of which, being as I am the only person in this house weird enough to
eat Polenta, I had a fair bit leftover. No
worries – there are so many great things to do with the scraps.Before we start, for how to make polenta see here.

Polenta Pizza
Base

Whilst still
warm spread the polenta out thinly to use as an alternative pizza base. Top and bake as usual.

Polenta Tart Case

Set aside leftover polenta till cool enough
to handle and then with lightly greased hands press the polenta into a loose bottomed tart
case pressing against the sides and into corners. Either bake empty (no need to weight and bake
blind as it won’t puff up) then cool and fill or add a chosen filling, brush
the edge of the tart case with olive oil and bake in a hot oven till the crust
is golden and the filling cooked.
Here’s one made earlier with wine glazed shallot filling.

For
the following ways to use up leftover polenta firstly, using a wet spatula,
spread the unused polenta in an oiled to about15 mm thick. Leave till cold and if poss leave a bit
longer to allow it to dry out a bit.

Polenta
Chips, Polenta Croutons and Pretty Shapes

Cut
cold polenta into shapes or chips or croutons and coat in flour or dry cornmeal
to help form a crispy crust. Deep fry a
few pieces at a time -do
not overcrowd the pan, the oil needs to stay good and hot - and when crisp and
golden, lift out carefully and drain on kitchen roll whilst frying the rest.

Crostini,
Bruschetta and General Nibbly Things

As
above but instead of deep frying brush with olive oil and season and grill OR
season and coat in a little dry cornmeal and shallow fry till crisp and golden. Sprinkle with sea salt for a crunchy snack or
add a delicious topping and flash under
the grill or into a hot oven to heat through.

Cutting
out pretty shapes results in a few odd pieces and trimmings so here’s what to
do with them …

Polenta
Gratin

One of my favourite ways to use up polenta trimmings; toss the bits of pieces of polenta with soft
buttery cooked leeks and put in a buttered dish. Crumble over some blue cheese, sprinkle with
breadcrumbs and bake till hot and bubbling.
A glass or red wine is de rigueur here.

Polenta Topping

Scatter bits and pieces of polenta
on top of a savoury stew, hotpot or casserole, cover the dish with foil and
bake till hot through.Uncover and sprinkle
with breadcrumbs and cheese f suitable, return to the oven till crisp and
bubbling.For a posh do use slices of
polenta, cut into pretty pieces and laid slightly overlapping.

Leftovers Cookbook ...

I have so many ideas for leftovers that I wrote Creative Ways to Use Up Leftoverswhich has ideas, recipes, handy hints, cook's treats, storage guidance and food pairing suggestions for over 450 possible leftovers and scraps.

4 March 2012

I went to The Eden Projecta couple of
days ago with my friend next door, Diane.
Yet another great thing about living in Cornwall is the £5
locals’ annual pass to Eden; what a bargain!

I was eager to visit the tropical
(rainforest) biome to see if it was any good for my homesickness but in that
respect if was a disappointment; much more humid that Tortola and none of my friends
were there! It was wonderful,
nevertheless with lots of interesting stuff to see, not only plants ...

Interesting birds ~ these chaps were
wandering about in the tropical biome quite at home, more like visitors than
exhibits. They have strange stubby
tails, as you can see, which they wagged in a doggy fashion and were very friendly. If anyone reading this knows
who they are could you please let me know.

Artworks ...

Advice ...

... and Strange comfy seating.

After an hour or two in the rainforest we
retired to the dining area, Diane and I both had a slice of Orange and Ginger
Cake which I immediately identified as a polenta cake.

It was utterly yummy although Diane felt it
should have been gingerier, apparently this is a word – I originally put more
gingery but my spell check wanted gingerier. She suggested that I come up with
a recipe or things might go badly for me.
So here it is, it’s basically a recipe from the Beeb but I’ve added
ginger and a pinch of salt and glazed with hot glaze when hot as opposed to
cold glaze when cold as their recipe says.

Orange & Ginger Polenta Cake

250g
butter at room temperature; soft but not runny

250g
sugar + another 100g

4 eggs

140g
fine polenta

200g
plain flour

2
tsp baking powder

pinch
salt

finely
grated zest and juice 2 oranges (divide the juice in 100ml and whatever is
left!)

2
knobs of ginger from the jar – coarsely chopped (or finely if you prefer)

~
Preheat the oven to 325°F/160ºC/140ºC fan/gas 3.

~
Grease a cake pan – I used a 23cm springform.

~
Mix together all the dry ingredients.

~
Cream together the butter and 250g sugar till pale and fluffy.

~
Beat in the eggs one at a time, if the mixture looks a but curdled add a
spoonful of the dry ingredients.

~ Once
the eggs are incorporated add the dry ingredients and mix in.

~ When
the dry ingredients are all mixed in add the orange zest, the chopped ginger
and any orange juice in excess of 100ml

~ Decant
into the prepared cake pan, level the top and bake for 45-50 minutes till risen
and cooked. (I have a confession to make
here – mine really sunk in the middle which may be because I had the oven on
the wrong number 130ºC instead of 140ºC.
Nevertheless it tastes great).

~
Whilst the cake is cooking stir together the remaining 100g of sugar and
100ml or orange juice in a small pan over a medium heat till the sugar has
dissolved or melted or whatever it does in this situation. Bring to a simmer and cook for 3 or 4
minutes.

~
Turn the cooked cake out onto a rack and stand the rack over a large
dish.

~
Drizzle the hot syrup over the cake which, being warm, should absorb it
but excess will be caught in the dish and can be licked up when no-one is
looking.